Floor sweeping composition comprising finely divided solids,petroleum oil,and atactic propylene polymer



United States Patent O 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A floorsweeping composition comprising finely divided solid material and awetting agent consisting essentially of petroleum lubricating oil andatactic propylene polymer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvedfloor sweeping compositions comprised of finely divided solid materialand a novel wetting agent. Specifically, the present invention relatesto floor sweeping compositions comprising finely divided solid materialand a novel wetting agent consisting of petroleum oil and atacticpropylene polymer.

Floor sweeping compositions generally are used to prohibit settled dustand dirt and fines from refloating in the air during the sweepingprocess, thereby providing for more etficient dirt and dust collection.Heretofore, floor sweeping compositions have generally consisted offinely divided inert materials such as sawdust, sand and salt which arecombined with a wetting agent which is usually high viscosity, oilymaterial such as petroleum lubricating oils. The function of wettingagent is to cause the dust and dirt and other fine particles to adhereto the finely divided solid materials of the sweeping composition.

The oil wetting agent is normally of a high viscosity so that it willsubstantially adhere to the surface of the solid particles of thecomposition for long periods of time and thereby provide a floorsweeping composition which will aid in dirt and dust removal even afterlong periods of storage. Usually low viscosity oils are not used infloor sweeping composition because of their tendency to drain from thesolid particles and thereby result in ineffective dirt and dustcollection. Also, low viscosity oils have been known on occasion tostain some of the materials with which they remain in prolonged contactfor even short periods of contact. Thus, for the most part, presentlyused floor sweeping compositions have been limited to very highviscosity oils as wetting agents in order that oil stain damage can beavoided.

Unfortunately, however, very high viscosity oils are inherentlysubstantially less eflicient as wetting agents than lower viscosityoils. Thus, although drainage and staining problems of floor sweepingcompounds can for the most part be avoided by using high viscosity oilsas wetting agents, these oils are somewhat less efiicient in dirt anddust removal. The loss in efliciency of cleaning ability fromcompositions containing high viscosity oils results in the requirementof larger quantities of the sweeping compound to provide effective dirtand dust removal, all of which results in a generally unsatisfactoryfloor sweeping composition.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION We have now discovered a novel floorsweeping composition which is stable and non-staining and is effectivefor use for sweeping dirt and dust from floors, or similar surfaces. Wehave discovered that a floor sweeping composition comprising finelydivided solid materials such as sand, sawdust, and salt combined with awetting agent 3,533,953 Patented Oct. 13, 1970 "ice comprising petroleumoil and atactic propylene polymer is an effective fioor sweepingcomposition which is stable for substantially long periods of time andis resistant to staining surfaces with which it is contacted.

The compositions of the present invention generally comprise a mixtureof 70' to 95 weight percent finely divided solid material such as sand,sawdust or salt and 5 to 30 weight percent of a wetting agent which ispreferably comprised of 2 to 25 weight percent (based on the weight ofthe wetting agent) of atactic propylene polymer dissolved petroleum oil.Specifically, the floor sweeping compositions of the present inventioncomprise 70 to 95 weight percent finely divided solid material, 4.9 to29.4 weight percent petroleum oil and 0.1 to 7.5 Weight percent atacticpropylene polymer based on the weight of the total composition.

Petroleum oils usable in the compositions of the present inventioninclude a wide variety of oils generally of naphthenic, parafiinic, ormixed base mineral oils or synthetic oils made from monomers derivedfrom petroleum crude oil. The oils are normally referred to aslubricating oils and can be generally characterized as having a SayboltUniversal viscosity at 100 F. in the range of 55 to 25,000; at 210 F. inthe range of 30 to 250; and a pour point in the range of 50 to F.

Atactic propylene polymers of the present invention include thehomopolymer polypropylene as well as copolymers of propylene andethylene. Amorphous polymer fractions are recovered as a by-product ofthe stereo specific polymerization process normally used to produceisotactic propylene polymers. Atactic propylene polymers are generallycharacterized as solid, tacky substantially amorphous polymers solublein boiling hexane, having an average molecular weight in the range of20,000 to 300,000 as measured in Decalin at 275 F., and a density in therange of 0.82 to 0.91, with the preferred average molecular weight inthe range of 25,000 to 60,000.

Procedures for the stereospecific polymerization of propylene are wellknown to those skilled in the art. Examples of this type of process aredisclosed in Belgian Pat. 538,782 and British Pat. 994,416, as well asmany others. The finely divided solid material of the compositions ofthe present invention can include sand, sawdust, salt or any hard inertfinely divided solid material generally having a particle sizedistribution in the range of 10 to 200 mesh sieve.

Compositions of the present invention can be prepared by means of two orthree separate steps which include:

(a) petroleum oil and atactic propylene polymer are blended to form thewetting agent,

(b) when more than one type of finely divided solids are used, theseparate solid materials are blended together in the desired proportionsprior to being blended with the wetting agent, and

(c) blending the wetting agent composition and the finely divided solidsto provide a substantially homogeneous floor sweeping compositioncomprising finely divided solid material whollyor partially coated withan oilatactic propylene polymer wetting agent composition.

The floor sweeping composition can be blended at a temperature in therange of room temperature up to the boiling point of the particular oilbeing used.

To further illustrate the compositions of the present invention, thefollowing examples are presented.

EXAMPLE I grams of a naphthenic base petroleum oil characterized' ashaving an API gravity of 24.3, Saybolt viscosity at F. of 56.0 and at210 F. of 33.7 and a pour point of -50 F. were blended at F. with 20grams of atactic polypropylene having an average molecular weight of45,000. The resulting blend was subsequently mixed with 900 grams of acomposition comprising sand and sawdust in the ratio of 4 parts sand toparts sawdust. The wetting agent and solid were blended in a rotatingdmm mixer for minutes at 150 F. until the wetting agent was disperseduniformally over the solid particles.

The composition recovered was found to be a stable effective floorcleaning composition which did not stain the areas on which it was used.This example provides a demonstration of a means of using low viscositypetroleum oil in floor sweeping compositions by adding a stabilizingamount of atactic propylene polymer to the oil.

EXAMPLE II A floor sweeping composition was prepared by a methodidentical to that of Example I with the exception that the wetting agentwas comprised of grams of a solvent refined parafiinic petroleum o-ilcharacterized as having an API gravity of 27.4, a Saybolt viscosity atF. of 2501 and at 210 F. of and a pour point of 0 F. and 12 grams ofatactic polypropylene having a molecular weight of 45,000.

The resulting floor sweeping composition was efiective in removing dirtand dust without staining the surfaces with which it was brought incontact. In this example an intermediate viscosity paraffinic oil isshown to be used effectively in a floor sweeping composition.

EXAMPLE III A floor sweeping composition was prepared according to theprocedures disclosed in Example I with the exception that the wettingagent consisted of 96 grams of a mixed base petroleum lubricating oilcharacterized as having an API gravity of 11.6, a Saybolt viscosity at100 F. of 17,438 and at 210 F. of and a pour point of 65 F.; and 4 gramsatactic polypropylene having a molecular weight of 45,000. Thecomposition of this example on testing was found to be equal inperformance to the compositions of Examples I and II.

Atactic propylene polymers and petroleum Oils when blended together forma thick, viscous gel-like composition which is tacky. The addition ofthe propylene polymer to the wetting agent substantially improves theeffectiveness of the floor sweeping compound. The polymer itself istacky and sticky so that it effectively holds both large and small dirtand dust particles to the surfaces of the solid in the floor sweepingcompositions. This inherent characteristic when combined with thewetting ability of the oil in the compositions provides a superior floorsweeping composition which provides a substantial improvement in removalof dust and dirt. The polymer also maintains the oil on the solidparticles of the floor sweeping composition, thereby providing a morestable and stain resistant type material. The consistency of thepolymer-oil gel depends upon the viscosity of the oil used and theamount of polymer added to the oil. Normally the lower the viscosity ofthe oil, the larger the quantity of polymer that is necessary to providethe stable wetting agent suitable for use in floor sweepingcompositions. This point can be realized when the above given examplesare examined.

Normally lower molecular weight atactic propylene polymers are moretacky than higher molecular weight propylene polymers. However, highermolecular weight polymers provide a thicker consistency to theoil-polymer solution so that the properties of the wetting agent can beadjusted accordingly. Thus, the physical characteristics of the presentfloor sweeping composition can be adjusted to the desired physicalrequirements by selecting the proper ratio and type of polymer and oilto form the improved wetting agents of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A floor sweeping composition comprising finely divided solid materialand 5 to 30 weight percent of a wetting agent consisting essentially ofpetroleum oil and atactic propylene polymer having an average molecularweight in the range of 25,000 to 60,000.

2. A composition according to claim 1 comprising 70 to 95 weight percentfinely divided solid material, 4.9 to 29.4 weight percent petroleum oiland 0.1 to 7.5 Weight percent atactic propylene polymer.

3. A composition according to claim 2. wherein the finely divided solidmaterial is comprised of a mixture of sand and sawdust.

4. A composition according to claim 2 wherein the atactic polymer ispolypropylene.

Lesser, Milton A., Sweeping Compounds, December 1951, pp. 144-147, 177.

JOHN T. GOOLKASIAN, Primary Examiner J. C. GIL, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R.

